This blog is based in Northeast Ohio, what was "La Nation du Chat," the Cat Nation, as the French-Canadian furtraders called the Land of the Erie Indians. The blog will touch on many issues: nature, the environment, literature, poetry, society, and politics. Around here we think of the Lake Erie shoreline as the North Coast of the United States--a Frontier in the midst of the Rust Belt.

Thursday, January 21, 2016

Here are the petitions Ellen McHugh has written for next Sunday, January 24, 2016. St. Mary's Church in Painesville, Ohio.

Prayer
of the Faithful for January 24, 2016

Third
Sunday in Ordinary Time

Celebrant: The Lord Jesus came to proclaim
liberty to the captives and salvation to all.This gives us confidence to entrust to him all our needs.

·We pray for those who govern
nations and make laws: for the wisdom and courage to honor the dignity of all
human life from conception until death. We pray to the Lord.

·That our loving God, who always
hears the cries of the refugee and the immigrant, may enable men and women of
good will to hear those cries and be moved to conversion and transformation. We
pray to the Lord.

·Teach us in our daily lives to
show mercy as we walk together as one body in Christ; help us to welcome not
only the strangers in our midst, but the gifts they bring as well.We pray to the Lord.

·For those who directly minister
to the most vulnerable among us; for the sick and the dying, for those who
struggle with addiction, for those who feel isolated or forgotten.We pray to the Lord.

·Bless all whose lives
are closely linked with ours—let
the words of our mouths and the thoughts of our heart always speak your truth
with compassion.We pray to the Lord.

·And
for those for whom this Mass is offered [name them]. We pray to the Lord.

·Let
us pause now and silently offer to the Father our own particular intentions
[allow for silence. . .].We pray to the
Lord.

Celebrant:
Gracious God, we welcome the Gospel of Your Son.As you answer our prayers, may the words of
the Gospel resound in our hearts and shape our lives.We ask this through Christ our Lord.Amen

Ellen McHugh's Prayer of the Faithful for this coming Sunday at St. Mary's in Painesville, Ohio.

Prayer
of the Faithful for January 17, 2016

Second
Sunday in Ordinary Time

Celebrant:As we celebrate our coming together for the Eucharist, let us, dear
sisters and brothers,approach the
one God to voice all our needs.

·For
the Church, and for this parish community: may we always recognize the gifts
God has given each of us and encourage the gifts of one another for the good of
our neighbor and the whole human family.We pray to the Lord.

·For
a welcoming ecumenical spirit among churches, that we may bear joyful witness
to the quest for Christian unity in Jesus’ name.We pray to the Lord.

·For
people of all nations, races, and religions, that Martin Luther King’s dream of
unity, peace and brotherly love be fulfilled among us.We pray to the Lord.

·For the poor, the unemployed, and
the destitute, for immigrants and refugees, and for all who dedicate their
lives in service to them.We pray to the
Lord.

·For all
children who have died from abortion and for their
mothers and fathers: for mercy, peace and the loving embrace of Christ.We pray to the Lord.

·In
this month dedicated to the Holy Name, we pray that each time we say, “Jesus”
it is spoken as a perfect prayer, reflecting Your perfect love for us.We pray to the Lord.

·And
for those for whom this Mass is offered [name them]. We pray to the Lord.

·Let
us pause now and silently offer to the Father our own particular intentions
[allow for silence. . .].We pray to the
Lord.

Celebrant:Gracious God, we believe that you will hear and respond to our sincere
prayers, asked in the name of your Son, and in the power of your Spirit, one
God, forever and ever.Amen.

Tuesday, January 12, 2016

A Visit to the MACE
Islamic Center in Richmond Heights—“Just Thoughts”

“We pray for you every day” (Muslims
brother and sisters at the Richmond Heights Mosque)

Humera, Salma, and Nafis told us that they pray briefly five
times a day, and at each prayer, they pray for us and for all the “Children of
Abraham.” All Jews, Christians, and Muslims are “Children of Abraham.” These
gentle souls, whom we met at the MACE Islamic Center in Richmond Heights, prayed for us all the time. When they
told us that, we responded, “And we promise to pray for you every day.”

Five St. Mary’s parishioners and five other people visited
the MACE mosque on Saturday, January 9th. Some of us were a bit on edge, not
sure of what to expect. When we entered the modern building on Chardon Road, we
were warmly greeted by two women, Humera and Salma, and a man, Nafis. We were
offered coffee and sweets and then began a tour of the facility and an
introduction to Islam.

Our Muslim friends looked just like us—Humera and Salma do
not wear the hijab head dress
themselves (though we saw some people coming for prayers with head coverings,
similar to the babushkas our own
mothers wore to church in the 1950s). All were very hospitable and friendly,
these three well-educated, kind people.

After a brief introduction to Islam, we removed our shoes
and entered the prayer room. The mosque itself is very simple, with no statues
or pictures. The only iconography consisted of three short writings in Arabic,
done in beautiful calligraphy. Humera, Salma, and Nafis told us about how daily
prayers and Friday prayer works (Friday is their Sabbath), let us look at
prayer books (the Quran, in Arabic,
with English translations). We opened the book at random, and our eyes
immediately dropped on a passage that spoke to our deepest Christian and human
values.

After the tour, Humera approached one of St. Mary’s
parishioners, saying, “You look very familiar. Could our daughters have gone to
the same pre-school in Euclid back in 1992? And indeed it was true. Humera had
visited this parishioner’s home back then, and even took her daughter to
school. Sometimes you wonder if such serendipity is really the the Grace of God
in action.

We left deeply moved by the kindness and humanity of Humera,
Salma, and Nasif. And we were struck by the beauty of Islam and its similarity
to Christianity and Judaism.

These personal encounters between cultures can lead to
understanding and peace. We were all so grateful for this opportunity.